


Of Crushes and Relationships

by PrincessLaLa



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessLaLa/pseuds/PrincessLaLa
Summary: After seeing Akira and Yusuke stumble around their unrecognized mutual feelings for each other, the rest of the Phantom Thieves decide to take matters into their own hands.





	1. Chapter 1

Akira was not discreet with his feelings whenever it came to the people he had crushes on. No matter how much he tried to hide it, it would always show in some form or another. In the case of Yusuke, it was incredibly evident.

Akira thought everything about the blue-haired artist was so cute, from the way his silky hair swooped over one eye made him look appealingly mysterious (Not to mention incredibly handsome), to his voice, to his myriad of quirks like eating fries like a squirrel or his constant need and desire to sketch everything he saw. Just the way his eyes would light up when he’d talk about art and beauty was so pure and adorable, Akira always felt compelled to want to kiss him right then and there and it was only by some miracle that he hadn’t yet. And these were just counting some of his quirks outside of the dungeons. Inside the dungeons, Akira also found Yusuke's Fox personality charming, from his overdramatic poses to the way he'd do those body rolls after all-out attacks that were so alluring to watch. Akira felt like he could go on for days just thinking about everything he liked about Yusuke both inside and outside the dungeons.

Akira always felt his heart beat faster whenever he was with Yusuke. He couldn’t help it. He always felt so happy and excited to be in his presence. Lately, he had been dropping hints to Yusuke that he liked him as more than a friend but he wasn’t sure if Yusuke was getting them or even wanting to reciprocate them.

One such example happened on a fairly unremarkable and ordinary day. The entirety of the Phantom Thieves had all gathered inside of Café LeBlanc. Although no planning session was to be done as there were no heists or Mementos requests to fulfill that day, the group still liked to hang out inside the café and use its calm atmosphere to study together. Everyone, save for Akira and Yusuke, were seated at a booth close to the counter, while Akira was standing behind the counter cleaning dishes and preparing coffee for customers, and Yusuke sat at the counter, intently drawing something in his sketchbook.

“Don’t move!” Yusuke had said suddenly, breaking the silence in the coffee shop, looking up in Akira’s direction. Akira froze, puzzled as to why he did until he saw Yusuke do his signature square finger-frame motion with his hands.

“I want to capture the quiet, calm beauty of this scene.” Yusuke said, quickly and rapidly sketching something out and shading it, glancing up from time to time.

“With me in it?” Akira said, pointing to himself as a faint but noticeable pink blush creeped up onto his cheeks.

“Of course! You’re what brings life to this scene!” Yusuke said, erasing a mistake and quickly adding in more details, quickly trying to catch the artistic inspiration before it left him.

Akira’s face turned a deeper shade of pink as he followed Yusuke’s instructions. Within a matter of minutes, Yusuke put his pencil down.

“Would it be okay if I looked?” Akira asked, a sense of genuine curiosity evident in his face.

Yusuke turned the sketchbook to face Akira as Akira wiped his hands on his apron and gently took the sketchbook from the artist’s hands, adjusting his glasses as he did so.

“It’s beautiful!” Akira exclaimed, beaming as he handed the sketchbook back to Yusuke.

“But not quite as beautiful as you.” He said, a little bit softer.

Yusuke just laughed. “If I were actually beautiful, I would have painted myself already.” He said, seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that Akira had just tried to flirt with him.

Akira’s smile faltered a little bit, but nonetheless he kept smiling. “You just don’t give yourself enough credit." He said, continuing the banter as he and the painter kept talking.

Ann, Ryuji, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, and Morgana all sat and intently (but discreetly) watched their leader’s interactions with the painter. A general feeling of agreement among everyone at the booth was that the romantic and sexual tension was so thick one could almost cut it with a knife and something needed to be done.

Ann took out her phone and typed out a message before sending it to everyone at the table. Everyone’s phones started buzzing with the message reading “We all need to talk in private.”

Ryuji looked up at Ann and nodded his head in agreement.

“Hey Akira I just realized I left some of my things in your room the last time we hung out.” Ryuji said, turning to face his friend. “Would it be okay if I get them?”

As soon as Ryuji asked that, the rest of the group answered with a chorus of “Me too” and “I also left something there” as if to prove his point.

“Oh yeah, go ahead.” Akira said, blinking in surprise before taking a couple dirty cups from the counter and washing them. “The door’s unlocked. I have to head out in a couple minutes to go run an errand for Sojiro though so you guys go make yourselves at home until I get back.”

“Sweet. Thanks Akira!” Ryuji said, flashing his friend a thumbs-up as he walked upstairs to Akira’s room, everyone else following suit except for Yusuke, who was so engrossed in his drawings that he didn’t even notice what was happening.

Once upstairs, Ryuji quickly closed the door behind him.

“These guys need help.” Ryuji said bluntly.

"I Agree.” Ann said, nodding her head. “I feel like at this point they need all the help they can get." She continued. “I want to do something, but I don’t know what.”

“I feel like we should help them just so they can stop dancing around each other like lovestruck children.” Makoto said, shaking her head as she thought about all of the interactions between the two boys.

The group sat in silence for a while wondering what to do when suddenly Ryuji spoke.

"Hang on. I just thought of a great plan. Just leave it to me." Ryuji said, standing up from the table.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ann asked.

"I have an idea that I think would work and as Akira's best bro I think I'm the best person to do this." Ryuji replied.

Before anyone could say anything or convince him to stop and at least tell them his plan, Ryuji walked out the door and down the stairs to the café.

~~~~~

Locating the artist was not hard. Ryuji easily found the blue-haired boy still sitting in his usual spot at the counter, drawing something in his sketchbook as usual. Akira had since left to go run his errand. Ryuji cracked his knuckles as he headed over.

"Hey Yusuke." Ryuji said, sliding into the seat next to him.

“Hello Ryuji.” Yusuke responded, not bothering to look up from his sketchbook.

“Drawing as usual, I see.” He said, trying to make small talk as he tried to sneak a peek over Yusuke’s shoulder but finding the details of his new drawing too faint to see anything distinguishable yet. “What are you drawing?”

Yusuke’s eye twitched as his grip on his pencil tightened. “Nothing that someone with low aesthetic sense like you could understand.”

“Ow bro that wounds me.” Ryuji said, trying to downplay the fact that he was actually offended by Yusuke’s insult. He was a man on a mission after all, and his mission is to play wingman for his friend even at the cost of getting insulted.

“You did ask, I only told the truth.” Yusuke responded. He turned his sketchbook around a couple degrees and continued sketching. “Did you have something important you wanted to talk to me about or did you just come here to annoy me?”

“Is there something wrong with wanting to chat with a friend?” Ryuji retorted.

Yusuke snorted and continued drawing.

“So anyway, I Got a question. What do you think about Akira?” Ryuji asked, hoping he’d sound casual enough.

“He’s a great friend and our leader. I respect him a lot.” Was the response from the blue-haired boy.

“Yeah, But don’t you think that he’s got some other nice qualities to him?” Ryuji asked, hoping the artist was getting the hint.

“That is a possibility.” Yusuke said absentmindedly as he continued sketching a design in his sketchpad.

“Like maybe that he’s really smart, kind, good-looking and has a body that was practically built for sin?”

Yusuke looked up as he quickly and hastily snapped his sketchbook shut, face turning pink as he did so.

"I don't know what you're talking about or why you're telling me this." The blue-haired boy said, quickly standing up and packing his bag.

"Hey wait I can explain!" Ryuji said, his plea falling on deaf ears.

"I think I should go now. Goodbye Ryuji." He said, moving towards the door and stepping out, slamming the door behind him as the bell at the top jingled, announcing his exit.

~~~~~

While Ryuji was trying to talk to Yusuke, the rest of the group waited anxiously upstairs, unable to see or hear any of the conversation unless they blew their cover. Upon hearing the front door to Café LeBlanc slam shut, everyone bolted to the window, eager to see what was happening. A collective feeling of confusion and concern fell over the group as they saw Yusuke hurry down the street.

As the group was so engrossed in watching Yusuke leave that they didn't notice that Ryuji had re-entered the room. They only noticed once Ryuji moved to stand next to them by their place at the window to watch.

“WHAT DID YOU DO???” Ann exclaimed, turning to him.

“I tried to be a good wingman and tell Yusuke all the good stuff about Akira hoping he'd take a hint.” Ryuji just said, putting his hands up defensively before shrugging nonchalantly and sitting down at the table.

“Somehow it seems like you didn’t do a very good job of it.” Futaba quipped, pulling out her phone and sitting back at the table.

“Okay but what exactly did you say?” Haru inquired curiously.

“And tell us EXACTLY, word-for-word.” Makoto said making the clarification known.

Ryuji proceeded to recount to the group what he said. Ann fell over laughing.

“Ryuji that just makes it sound like you’re gay and have a thing for Akira!” She said, trying to catch her breath as she wiped away a tear from her eye.

Ryuji choked. “I’m not gay! I really like women I swear! And even if I did like a guy, it’d be Yuki, because he’s cute!” He spluttered, face turning pink in indignation.

“So you admit you’re not straight then?” Ann said, grinning and turning to face him.

Ryuji held up his finger and opened his mouth to say something before closing it and taking a drink of water from the glass on the table in front of him. “Touché.” He said. “Well played Ann. Well played.”

Futaba snickered. “Congratulations,” She said, looking up from her phone. “You played yourself.”

“I’m heteroflexible just so you all know!” Ryuji shouted, trying to get the record straight.

“Anyway….” Makoto said, bringing the group back on-topic. “The fact remains that we still haven’t gotten anywhere with helping these two get together.”

The group nodded and murmured in response.

“I swear to God if I have to see them make puppy-dog eyes at each other ONE MORE TIME and still not realize they have a thing for each other, I’m going to lock them both in a room together and FORCE them to kiss.” Morgana said, flicking their tail in agitation.

Ann’s face lit up, like as if she just had an idea. “Morgana you just might be onto something here!” She said, gently giving them a scratch behind the ear.

Morgana’s face lit up. “I’m so happy you agree with me Lady Ann!” They exclaimed, meowing in happiness.

"Alright then," Makoto said, taking out a notepad and pen. "Let's get to work. We need to plan this right."

~~~~~

As he hurried out into the street, Yusuke just couldn’t shake the thoughts about the conversation he just had, try as he might.

Yusuke felt his face burn as he thought about what he and Ryuji just talked about. So maybe it was true that Akira did have a nice-looking face, it was well-proportioned! It made him a perfect model to draw. And him being kind and smart made him a good friend and leader, they were all admirable qualities to have! As for the “body built for sin” comment, Yusuke shook his head in confusion over what that meant. Sin as in theft? If that were the case everyone in the group had one, they were thieves after all, nothing much that could differentiate Akira’s body from the others, but that couldn’t be the case at all. What other “Sin” could Ryuji have meant?

As Yusuke puzzled over this, his thoughts wandered to mental images of Akira and his body, flipping through the many pages of sketches of Akira in his sketchbook as he did so, until he found the page where he had drawn Akira nude from memory after their outing to the public baths. Yusuke did have to admit that Akira’s body was very beautiful; it was well-toned, lithe and a little bit muscular from all the dungeon training sessions, not to mention he did have what one would call “a nice ass”, as Ryuji would so eloquently put it. Overall his body would definitely be the kind that many people would find sexually attractive.

Yusuke stopped in his tracks at the realization and closed his sketchbook. So THAT was what Ryuji meant when he had said “Body built for sin.” Yusuke’s face flushed in embarrassment. But why would Ryuji say that? Unless maybe he had a crush on Akira…. Yusuke shook his head. Why on Earth would Ryuji tell him he had a crush on Akira?

“So what if Ryuji has a crush on Akira?” Yusuke thought to himself. “It’s not like it’s any of my business.”

After all, Ryuji and Akira were best friends. If the two started dating, he should feel happy for them, since they were his friends as well (even if Ryuji did get on his nerves a lot).

Even so, the thought of Akira and Ryuji together somehow strangely made Yusuke’s stomach churn. He shook his head in confusion. Why was he feeling this way all of a sudden?

The realization hit him like a bus.

He had a crush on Akira. And a pretty big one at that too. How he had been so blind and oblivious to it he had no idea. It all made sense. His constant focus and desire to draw Akira, the constant desire to want to spend time with him and talk to him, the warm feeling of happiness he felt when he was around Akira.

It had been so obvious the whole time.

Yusuke groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. This was too much. He didn’t even want to begin to think about how he could go about telling Akira his feelings for him, he just knew that he had to or else he’d have to live with the likely possibility that Akira and Ryuji would happily pursue a relationship together without Akira never knowing his true feelings for him while the blonde monkey just has Akira all to himself.

This day was truly shaping up to be quite the headache for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first multi-chaptered fic in a long time and my third P5 fic! I didn’t even mean to covertly shove as many memes into one chapter as I did, it just happened. Look forward to the next chapter soon!
> 
> ALSO I am totally on board with the idea of Ryuji being the Straight Bro™️ who'd also be 100% okay with dating a guy if the right one came along but still remains comfortable in his sexuality and identity.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, everyone met up outside of Café Leblanc as usual.

“So, do you all remember the plan?” Makoto asked, turning to face the group.

Everyone nodded and murmured some kind of affirmation.

“Good. Let’s put it into action.” She said, turning the doorknob and entering into the café, everyone else following suit.

Everyone greeted Akira as usual, who smiled and waved before going to help a customer, while Morgana hopped down from the counter and walked over to the group’s usual booth as they all took out their homework. Yusuke was noticeably absent, as he had yet to arrive from Kousei.

Everything went as normal; Akira and Ryuji bantered while Anne, Haru, and Makoto chatted amongst each other while Futaba took out her phone and played a phone game before everyone decided to do some studying. About twenty minutes in, Morgana jumped off the table, citing “restlessness” as a reason to move around and wandered off in the direction of the bathrooms and the supply closet. Futaba got up from the table 3 minutes later and headed in the same direction. Absolutely nobody paid any mind until a noise was heard coming from the supply closet, followed immediately by footsteps.

“Akira, come quick!” Futaba exclaimed, running into the room with tears streaming down her face as she did so.

“Futaba is everything okay?” Akira asked, quickly setting down the mug he was in the middle of washing.

“It’s Morgana!” She sobbed. “They got their paw stuck in a mouse trap in the supply closet and now they can’t move!”

Akira tore off his apron as he ran out from behind the counter and bolted for the supply closet. Yanking open the door, Akira bolted inside, not even bothering to put in a doorjamb as the door closed slowly enough on its own.

“Morgana!” He shouted. ”Where are you?”

“I’m up here Akira!” Akira heard Morgana say on one of the higher shelves, seemingly obscured by several large boxes and bulky pieces of equipment. “Please help me! It hurts!” He heard them yowl in pain.

“Hang on!” Akira responded, rolling up his sleeves and starting to climb up the shelves as he did. The room was starting to get dimmer as the door was almost closed. He didn’t get very far though as his foot lost its hold and slipped, causing him to lose his grip and fall down on the floor. Right as he landed, the door closed, surrounding Akira with darkness. That darkness did not last very long however, as almost immediately he saw the door open again.

“Ryuji please stop lying,” Akira heard Yusuke say as he saw him turn around to face Ryuji while stepping into the closet, his hand still on the doorknob. “Akira isn’t even in h— oof!” He exclaimed, suddenly tripping over Akira who was only just getting up from the floor, clearly having not seen him below his line of sight when he first looked into the closet. The force of Yusuke falling backward with his hand on the knob forced the door to slam shut, followed by an almost sinister-sounding click as the lock fastened itself, plunging the small supply closet into total darkness.

“Morgana!” Akira shouted, hoping to locate the sound of Morgana’s voice.

“I’m out here Akira!” he heard Morgana say from…. Outside the door? What was happening? Did he hit his head too hard landing? “Just wait! I’ll go get help!” He heard them say.

Akira tried to open the door, only to find it was indeed locked. He jiggled the doorknob again in denial before giving up and trying to throw his entire body weight against it, to no avail, earning himself what would undoubtedly show up as a bruise the next morning.

Sighing in defeat, Akira turned his attention towards Yusuke who was still lying on the floor.

“Yusuke, are you okay?” He asked in concern. Yusuke did trip over him and fall pretty hard.

Akira heard Yusuke get up from the floor and move to stand in front of him, groaning as he did so. “I feel like I had the wind knocked out of my lungs, but other than that, I am fine.”

Akira sighed in relief. “I’m so sorry you had to trip over me like that.” He apologized.

“I should be the one apologizing.” Yusuke said, a tone of embarrassment creeping into his voice. “If I had looked where I was going I wouldn’t have accidentally gotten the both of us locked in here.”

“I honestly should have just propped the door open with the doorjamb,” Akira said. “That way you could have seen me and we wouldn’t be in this mess that we can’t seem to get out of.”

“Can’t you pick the lock?” Yusuke asked, starting to feel a bit more panicked about being trapped in such a small and dark room with no possible way out.

“I would if I had something in here I could fashion a lockpick out of.” Akira said, fumbling around in the dark, trying to find out what was on the shelf. As expected, he didn’t find anything that could be used to make any picks.

Exhausted from all the excitement, Akira leaned against the wall of the closet. He figured he was going to leave the room later rather than sooner, given how nobody had come back yet despite the fact that at least ten minutes had passed since he got in. He figured he might as well make sense of what just happened.

“I was told Morgana was in trouble.” Akira said, trying to piece things together. “So I came in here looking for them but then when you walked in here and tripped over me I realized Morgana must have pulled some kind of trick on us with their voice or something.

“That’s strange.” Yusuke said. “I was just told that you were in here and having trouble getting something down from the shelf and they needed someone tall to help you.”

Akira laughed. “When I thought Morgana was trapped I honestly thought I was going to need someone taller than me to help me find Morgana so if they had actually been in here, you would have been a great help.”

A silence fell over the both of them as they tried to mentally occupy themselves with the fact they were both stuck in such a cramped supply closet together.

  
Akira felt his face burn as he realized how close he was to his crush. He was thankful for the room’s darkness at that moment because if it had been any brighter, Yusuke would have been able to see just how red his face was. As it was, Akira was already worried that his heart was beating so loud that even Yusuke could hear it, but he tried to shove the thought about that out of his head before it could cause that worry to become a reality. Yusuke was so close that Akira could hear and feel Yusuke’s warm breath on his face; he was so close that if he just tilted his head up a little bit more…..

 Akira’s lips had barely touched Yusuke’s when he felt Yusuke freeze up in surprise and back off. He immediately felt his heart start to sink.

“Akira this isn’t right!” Yusuke exclaimed, pushing Akira away.

“I-I’m sorry!” Akira said, trying to keep his voice level as he felt like his heart was going to snap in two from the rejection. “I don’t know what came over me. I should have asked. I’m so sorry.” What was he thinking? He probably just weirded out Yusuke and possibly ruined his friendship with him.

“No, it’s not that I didn’t want it.” Yusuke said, a hint of sadness creeping into his voice. “It’s just that I didn’t think kissing you would be fair to Ryuji.”

Akira blinked in confusion. “Ryuji??? What does he have anything to do with this?” He asked. Something weird was definitely happening.

Yusuke sighed. “I think Ryuji has a crush on you.” He admitted. “And I know how important he is to you since he’s your best friend and all, and I wouldn’t want to get in the way of any of that.”

Akira shook his head. “Where did you get the idea that he had a thing for me?” He asked, gently reaching his hand to touch Yusuke’s shoulder. “Yusuke, Ryuji told me he likes Yuki. And I know he wouldn’t lie to me.”

In the darkness, Akira heard Yusuke quietly mutter “What?” in surprise.

“B-but he came up to me yesterday and asked me what I thought about you and told me all these things about you that he found nice. Like that you were good-looking, smart, kind and that you had a, and I quote, ‘body built for sin.’” Yusuke said, clearly puzzled by everything that was happening.

Akira let the words sink in. Suddenly everything about today was making sense: The group’s secretive closeness, Morgana’s “here-but-not-here” trick, the fact that it had been at least half an hour now and nobody had come back for them yet, and now what Ryuji had apparently told Yusuke.

“I think they were trying to set us up with each other.” Akira said, his voice shaking with laughter. “I think they all knew how much I liked you so they tried to help me.”

“Wait, you like me?” Yusuke asked; the disbelief evident in his voice. “As in… more than a friend?”

“Well, duh.” Akira said bluntly, squeezing Yusuke’s shoulder. “I was actually pretty obvious about it. I kept flirting with you and dropping hints but it always seemed like you were either disinterested or completely oblivious, I just kept hoping it was the latter though since it seemed like half the time you were reciprocating my advances.”

Yusuke laughed in relief and joy, finally glad to know that the mystery was solved and that on top of that, Akira reciprocated his feelings. “I’m so glad though that you feel that way about me,” He said, the smile so evident in his voice. “Because I feel the same way.”

An awkward silence suddenly fell upon the two boys, only to be quickly broken.

“Would it be okay if I… ummm?” Akira murmured, suddenly seemingly losing his ability to speak in a composed manner.

“If you what?” Yusuke asked, his voice sounding soft and gentle as he did.

“Would it be okay if I kissed you?” Akira asked, finally finding the ability to finish his sentence. His face felt like it was going to spontaneously combust from how much it was heating up. “P-properly I mean!” he stuttered. “I mean if you don’t want to that’s perfectly okay too I don’t want to force y—”

Akira’s sentence was cut off abruptly as Yusuke promptly pressed his lips against Akira’s, putting his arms around Akira’s waist and pulling him closer as he did so. Akira sighed contentedly and eagerly kissed the other boy back, his heart racing as he practically melted into his embrace as he did.

Their lips moved in a messy, uneven, asynchronous rhythm and as Akira opened his mouth to let Yusuke’s tongue in, his teeth clicked loudly against Yusuke’s. Akira, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious and in need of air, slowly separated his mouth from Yusuke’s.

“I’m sorry it’s so rough.” Akira apologized, nervously rubbing the back of his head as he did so. “It’s just, you’re my first kiss.”

Yusuke gaped in shock. “No way!” He exclaimed. “I would have thought you would have kissed a lot of people before, given you’re so….”

“I’m so what?” Akira inquired, the curiosity evident in his voice.

“You’re so attractive and charming!” Yusuke exclaimed. “I thought that the people from your hometown would have been all over you!”

Akira’s heart swelled with affection as he laughed. “I’m flattered you think that way about me but like I said, you give me too much credit and don’t give yourself any!” He exclaimed, gently kissing Yusuke’s cheek. “The people back in my hometown barely paid any attention to me. I was too shy and introverted to make any lasting impressions on anyone.”

Akira shifted himself so that he was pressed up against the other boy. “Which is good for you now because you’ll be the only person who’s ever had me all to themself.” He whispered teasingly into Yusuke’s ear, prompting a shiver from the other boy. Akira laughed at the reaction.

“You know, we could just stay in here and make out, and even do a bit more,” Akira whispered suggestively, kissing Yusuke’s neck. “But I want to take you out on a proper date first before we do any of that.” He said. “What do you say we try and break out of here?”

Yusuke kissed Akira’s forehead. “I think that sounds like a great idea.” He said. “How would we do it though?”

Akira thought for a moment. “Since we don’t have the key or anything to make a pick out of, and nobody has returned yet, I feel like our only bet is to use as much force as we can and kick the door off its hinges. I’m sure if I explained everything to Sojiro about this door he’ll maybe understand. He did complain a bit about the door’s hinges being old and in need of replacement anyway.” He said.

Yusuke paused for a minute, deep in thought. “So maybe we should both kick the door as hard as we can at the same time?” He clarified.

“Yes that sounds about right.” Akira affirmed. “Shall we try?”

“Yes we should.” Was the response.

It took about four tries and lots of cursing and swearing in frustration but on the fourth try, the door finally busted off its hinges, the sheer force of the door giving way sending both boys tumbling forward. As Akira got up from the rubble, he helped Yusuke up before proceeding to take his hand and squeeze it, guiding him back in the direction of the café, where everyone else was undoubtedly waiting. Now that they finally overcame the challenge of getting out of the room, their next task was to face their friends and tell them about their newly-upgraded relationship status, and despite knowing that they would all be supportive of them, given everything they had done to set them up, they couldn’t help but feel like they needed to brace themselves for some kind of extreme, over-the-top reaction.

Hand-in-hand, Akira and Yusuke walked into the café together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I'd totally expect nothing less of the Phantom Thieves to come up with some kind of elaborate, slightly-dramatic way of luring people into a supply closet with a wonky door hinge and lock that would require an equally-dramatic way out.
> 
> No Morganas were harmed in the making of this chapter. Totally pulled some liberties here though and headcanoned that Morgana learned how to/already knew how to throw their voice and used it to their advantage to lure Akira in. 
> 
> Stay tuned for the next chapter! I'll probably publish it soon after my midterms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the team is Really Fcking Extra but also Really Supportive.

Almost as soon as Yusuke and Akira had stepped back into the café, they were greeted with much commotion.  
  
"Finally!" Ryuji exclaimed, walking over and clapping Akira and Yusuke on the back. "It took you guys long enough!"   
  
"CONGRATULATIONS!" Ann chimed in, reaching into her bag and pulling out handfuls upon handfuls of condoms out of her bag and tossing them in the air above Yusuke and Akira's heads like confetti, much to the shock of everyone there.  
  
"ANN DON'T DO THAT!" Ryuji shouted, shielding his face from a flying condom as he unwrapped his arm from around Akira's shoulders. "It's embarrassing. Where did you even get so many of these???"  
  
"You should be thanking me," Ann replied cheekily as she finally ran out of condoms to throw, conveniently ignoring Ryuji's question about them. "You and Yuki are going to need these too!" She said with a wink as she stepped back while Ryuji choked on his own spit and both Akira and Yusuke's faces turned red.   
  
"Thank you Ryuiji. And Ummm, thank you Ann." Akira said, his face turning a deep pink in embarrassment. "I'm sure we will definitely need these at some point so thank you for looking out for us." Yusuke's face turned an even even deeper shade of pink in response.  
  
"So," Futaba said, sliding up to the both of them. "How far did you two go in there?" She asked cheekily, smirking and wiggling her eyebrows as she did so.   
  
As Yusuke spluttered in shock at her comment, Akira squeezed his hand and stepped in front of him. "Wouldn't you like to know." Akira snarked jokingly. "But a gentleman never kisses and tells."   
  
"I hope you used lots of lubricants," Haru chimed in matter-of-factly. "The last thing I want is for one of you to end up in the hospital from a—"  
  
"Haru no!" Makoto exclaimed, clamping her hand over the other girl's mouth before she could say any more. "You don't say stuff like that in public," She continued, making a pointed glance over to Anne before taking her hand off of Haru's mouth. "Even if you are technically correct."  
  
Makoto sighed in exasperation at her friends before she turned to Akira and Yusuke and smiled. "Congratulations, you two." She said kindly. "I'm so glad to see you both admitted your feelings to each other."   
  
Yusuke's shoulders relaxed, having been previously tense from all the excitement from everyone else. "Thank you Makoto." He said.   
  
Makoto's face suddenly darkened and she stepped close enough to the two boys so that only they could hear.   
  
"And if I find out either one of you breaks the other's heart or hurts them, I will beat you up so badly that you'll have to be put in a full-body cast. You got that?" She hissed threateningly.   
  
Both boys gulped and nodded. "Y-yes Makoto." Akira stuttered in fear, squeezing Yusuke's hand. "Although I don't plan on doing any such thing as hurting Yusuke." He continued, his voice more confident in that sentence.  
  
Yusuke smiled warmly at Akira. "I don't think I want to so such things to Akira either." He said.   
  
Makoto nodded and stepped back.   
  
Morgana padded over to Akira and rubbed against his legs. "I'm sorry I got you locked in there." They said, hopping up onto a nearby table. "But now I don't have to deal with you guys being stupid about your feelings for each other!"   
  
Akira reached his free hand to scratch Morgana behind the ear. "Just Don't do that again." He said. "I was so worried that you were actually hurt."   
  
"I won't do that again, I promise." Morgana said as they jumped off the table and made their way to the counter.  
  
Akira looked over at the counter and saw Sojiro, who must have stepped in while Akira and Yusuke had been locked in the supply closet. Sojiro's eyes met Akira's as he sighed and shook his head at the commotion the others were making. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Akira and Yusuke's joined hands and where the two boys had come from.   
  
"If you skipped work just for doing what I think you did, I hope you at least cleaned up after yourselves." He said, drying off the mug in his hands.   
  
Yusuke looked like he was about to faint as Akira squeezed his hand.   
  
"Actually," Akira said, putting his free hand behind his head nervously. "It wasn't anything like that. But we did kind of break the door getting out because we were accidentally locked in."   
  
Sojiro put the mug down and rubbed his temple. "You could have just texted me to let you out you know." He sighed.  
  
Akira's face flushed in embarassment. "Admittedly that thought strangely didn't cross our minds." He responded, looking away.   
  
Sojiro stepped out from behind the counter and went to go look at the damage. "You're lucky this door was in need of replacement anyway!" He shouted as he walked into the small hallway. "Otherwise the repairs would have come out of your next paycheck!"  
  
Akira sighed in relief as he turned to face Yusuke.   
  
"Are you doing okay?" He asked softly, reaching for his free hand and holding it.   
  
Yusuke nodded. "Our friends are quite a dramatic bunch but they mean well." He said with a smile. "I'm glad."   
  
"Yeah, me too." Akira said, squeezing Yusuke's hands and leaning up to kiss the other boy on the nose.   
  
In that moment, both boys felt so happy and appreciative of their friends. They were dramatic, but they were dramatic and supportive of their relationship. Both boys couldn't possibly ask for a better family who would go so far as to help them get together and support them as much as they did. The future for their relationship truly did seem bright.

 

 


	4. Epilogue

“Are you sure we'll be okay?" Yusuke asked several weeks later as he and Akira stood outside the supply closet. He wearily eyed the door as he and Akira opened it and stepped inside.

"I'm positive." Akira said, gently squeezing his boyfriend's hand as he closed the door behind them. "Sojiro tested the new lock out and it works perfectly, especially for this."

Before Yusuke could respond, Akira practically slammed him against the wall as he kissed him ferociously. Yusuke wasted no time in opening his mouth to let Akira in, feeling Akira's tongue flick against his and letting him lick and suck on his bottom lip. Yusuke's breath hitched as he felt Akira's hands slowly travel downwards towards his hips where the brunet rested them, tracing circles into the skin with his thumbs.

Akira separated from the kiss as he moved to kiss Yusuke's neck before sucking at it. Yusuke let out a small moan as Akira's hand traveled downward and squeezed his ass, prompting him to grip Akira's hair tighter.

Yusuke separated his neck from Akira's mouth as he started licking and biting at Akira's collarbone and the base of his neck, tasting the sweet expanse of skin. He moved to slip his hand under Akira's shirt, brushing his thumb across Akira's nipple as he did so, prompting a shudder and a moan from the brunet. Prompted by that reaction, Yusuke started unbuttoning Akira's shirt so he could get better access to the rest of his chest. Yusuke had only laid a trail of kisses halfway down Akira's sternum when he felt Akira's grip on his ass loosen and felt himself being gently pushed away.

"Why did you stop?" Yusuke asked, panting and feeling incredibly turned on; his boyfriend had definitely improved since the first time they kissed.

"Sorry." Akira said bashfully, chuckling a little bit as he did as he moved out of Yusuke's embrace to button up his shirt. "My break's over. I have to get back on my shift; otherwise Sojiro's going to kill me for leaving the café unattended."

Yusuke could have sworn Akira knew he was pouting because almost immediately, he felt the other boy lean in to quickly give him a peck on the lips. "I promise we can continue this later when I'm off work." He said. And with that, the brunet stepped out of the room, turning up the collar of his shirt for extra measure as he left Yusuke standing alone in the dark with what could quite possibly be the worst awkward boner. He was definitely going to be in here a while, not that he could really complain, this room could be way worse with a faulty lock after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was just an excuse to write shameless makeouts oops but anyway that’s my third P5 fic done! Thanks again everyone for reading as well as for commenting and giving me those kudoses and all that nice stuff! It really keeps me going.
> 
> If you liked this or want to talk P5 or Shukita or Persona in general feel free to hit me up on my tumblr @ Tearsofahime. I’ve got more shukita and other p5 fics coming so keep an eye out for that!

**Author's Note:**

> My first multi-chaptered fic in a long time and my third P5 fic! I didn’t even mean to covertly shove as many memes into one chapter as I did, it just happened. Look forward to the next chapter soon!
> 
> ALSO I am totally on board with the idea of Ryuji being the Straight Bro™️ who'd also be 100% okay with dating a guy if the right one came along but still remains comfortable in his sexuality and identity.


End file.
